You know those days....

That call out
SOUP Soup SOUP!
I was just talking to my sis' in law and she mentioned having chicken noodle soup on the stove. The idea was planted and I ran with it. This is the view from my desk and it also inspired me to take action. I had to do something to thaw my fingers from just looking out there! Ha!
Woopsie, no before pictures, but the above became the beneath.
...and soon my bowl was filled with the yummie warm frothiness of Taco Soup.
It took all of 2 min. to boil water, gather & measure the ingredients, and 3 minutes to process. Nothing like instant gratification. 5 minutes to steaming hot soup.

....and about a minute to an empty bowl. YUM!

Yay Vita-Mix. I really enjoy this machine as it can do all sorts of things.
My most recent duh moment regarding this machine was ... onions. Yup, onions. Every time I chop onions (by hand) I cry and cry and cry! DOH, Why don't I let the V-M have a whack at it? Next time I had to chop/dice some onions out it came and may I just say it was a tear free experience!

vitamix goodness
no money has exchanged re: this product review... only a happie girl reporting a tear free experience.. Now, if anyone from Vita-Mix is reading this, feel free to send me a new tamper (hubbie accident-don't ask) and one of those nifty smaller containers!
Thanks in Advance!

The Black and White Cookie

Oh, the beautiful Black and White cookie!
I have had a hankerin' for these o' so yummie "cookies"!
Have you heard of these? They are the quintessential New York City treat.
I got myself on-line, found a recipe, read the comments, and set to baking! I love to bake cookies and usually do a good job of it. Cakes, now that's a different story, are much more of a challenge for me. This cookie is very cake like and I wondered how I would do so I made only half a batch. Good for me as this needs some altitude tweaking... of course, I should have looked at that first.

This was the result.
The pictures look ok but I can see some of where the vanilla side of the frosting did not quite cover. The chocolate covered wonderfully and is so very very very rich.

Overall I would report this first attempt as a success but I will still try other recipes or tweak this one. I know, I know, on the closeup the icings don't touch in the middle. Chalk that deficiency up to my need for instant gratification.. I couldn't wait to try. One of the keys to getting that good line in the middle is frost the vanilla side and let it set before frosting the chocolate side.

http://smittenkitchen.com/2008/09/black-and-white-cookies/
This is the recipe I (kinda) followed. After reading the comments I made some adjustments. Here are my notes for next time: I used the confection sugar-milk-vanilla frosting and it wasn't very white or the frosting I remember. Next time I will use the icing as listed in the recipe. For the chocolate I used the sugar, milk, vanilla, added unsweetened chocolate and melted over a double boiler. I can't believe I am saying this, but wow, too rich for this cookie. I will file it away for something more appropriate as the frosting was oh, so yummie! Some of the comments mentioned there wasn't enough lemon extract. I thought the amount listed was just right or maybe even a smidge too much. Because the cookies didn't raise too much I will try some altitude adjustments. I didn't have cake flour so I used the 2TBL cornstarch in the cup measure and added the rest AP flour substitution.

So there you have it... my first attempt at the nostalgic Black & White Cookie. Seeing as my dad works in NYC it may be possible to have some shipped in for taste comparison when I am further along in my quest for the best recipe.

I hope I don't have the same fate as Jerry Seinfeld!

Global Warming, Phooeeeey!

It is anti-global warming again in my yard! Translation: Snowing AGAIN! Because of all this I had to choose the green snow background to help me remember what colour the lawn is underneath all the global warming debris! a new background... and again, because I found one I liked better. HA!

HAPPEY

(so, I know I spelled it wrong but I typed it three times trying to fix the misspelling so I've decided to leave it!)
NEW YEAR TO YOU AND YOUR FAMILIES!

Seriously, It's Been How Long?

I am shocked at the length of time it has taken me to get into gear and get a new post on this bloggie. Oh, My, Heavens, I still have Thanksgiving "paper" up here! Eeeek. Moments while I go fix this!